Web applications are software applications that can be accessed via a web browser over a network, such as the Internet. Web applications can be embedded in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) web pages and have become a popular tool for web designers and developers to help create a rich experience for users. Some example web applications include e-mail, calendar, auctions, sales, and customer support among many others.
One reason for the popularity of web applications may be the convenience they offer both developers and users. Because web applications are typically hosted on a web server and accessed using a web browser as a thin client, web application software may be updated and maintained on the server. Updates and maintenance, therefore, are often seamless to the end user. As such, web applications may alleviate many of the distribution and installation headaches that occur with other software applications.
As with other software applications, however, web applications are not invulnerable to crashes or other bugs. Even the simplest web applications may contain code that causes the application to perform inefficiently, or to not perform at all. In addition, interactions between the web application and the browser or other system components may cause the web application to terminate unexpectedly. For this reason, developers may include message logging within the web applications to help identify application events, error codes, and the like. These logs may provide valuable information related to debugging the web application or otherwise analyzing the performance of the software.